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There is nothing like the Great British weather to have you in the garden enjoying the beginning of summer to in the house with the heating on in a matter of days. My first thought on a rainy day is a big bowl of creamy soup in front on the fire. This broccoli and sweet potato soup is not only creamy but deliciously cheesy !

I made this soup a lot when i was pregnant as it was an easy way to get Folic acid and calcium using a whole broccoli. Sweet potato is also bursting with vitamin A, more in fact than any green vegetable. They also help to regulate blood sugar levels, packed with anti oxidants, vitamin C and B6.

Broccoli and sweet potato soup recipe

Ingredients

1 large sweet potato

1 whole broccoli

1/2 tsp basil

1/2 tsp dill

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp onion powder

1 litre water

1/2 cup of nooch (nutritional yeast)

Begin by peeling and chopping the sweet potato and place it in a pan with the basil, dill, garlic powder and onion powder. Pour in the litre of water and 1/2 cup of nooch. Bring to the boil and simmer for 10 minutes.

Once the potato is tender, roughly chop the broccoli, including the stalk and place it in the pan with a lid on and simmer until it is just cooked through.

Using a hand blender blitz the soup until smooth.

I love this soup swirled with houmous and a sprinkle of black pepper with a pile of gluten free corn chips to scoop it up and devour it ! !

Let me know if you like this recipe and follow us on Instagram for more tasty vegan food and recipes… @thebowesfamily

I have psoriasis which is an autoimmune disease, An auto immune disease is where your bodies immune system attacks a normal body part. The reason that this happens is unknown and there is almost 100 different autoimmune diseases. Treatments differ from each disease but one common trigger can be foods.

The main foods that trigger my psoriasis is

Gluten

grains

sugar

Dairy

Nightshade vegetables

Eggs

Meat / fish

Alcohol

The worst part of this diet for me is not being able to eat nightshade veggies because it rules out tomatoes (which are the base of almost every meal !) and chilies, so that ment no more yummy Indian takeout for me !

Until I discovered this awesome spice mix out of ‘The Auto-immune Cookbook by DK’ Its not a vegan recipe book but i picked it up as a gift and later noticed the spice mix.

I have changed a few things from the original recipe but as a base it is really delicious.

Spice mix

1 1/2 tsp onion powder

1 1/2 tsp garlic powder

1 1/2 tsp turmeric

1 tsp coriander

1 tsp basil

1/2 tsp dill

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp ginger

1 tsp cumin

Place it all in a mortar and pestle and grind the spices together, I make this up using a tablespoon measurement instead of the suggested teaspoon and then I pop it in a jar and I have it on hand when ever I need it.

If this recipe has been helpful please let me know and I will do a vegan curry recipe for you using this spice mix. If you like our blog and want to see more follow us on Instagram @thebowesfamily

I’ve always got this in the back of my mind I suppose. Now we can say that ‘time’ to everyone is obviously perceived differently, however in this case I’m talking about your common day to day life and how you see it progressing in goals, achievements and contents.

As a family in the past we have always tended to or have had the urge to be out and about trying to sort of fill the time that we have. Don’t get me wrong as most of these things have been precious moments with our children teaching them to grow and learn and generally having an amazing time doing fun stuff. However for me (Wayne) specifically I tend to get really frustrated and bored extremely quickly whenever we have any limited spare time. I really struggle especially on a free weekend if we don’t get ready after our breakfast and get out of the house and do something.

Recently I’ve been thinking to myself whether it stems from a sense of lacking achievement or unsure goals, for which recently I’ve realised I had none! Not in my current way of life anyhow.

A good quote I read the other day goes, ‘The trouble is, you think you have time’.

We believe we have plenty of time to do everything, but its nearly always tomorrow. “I will go and learn such and such next week” or “I can’t wait until after this job” or “this holiday is coming up”. No one ever seems to live in the NOW. I firmly believe that this was my biggest set back.

Remembering back over 5 years ago I thought having my job and a good trade to progress in, and buying our first house and paying my mortgage were some sure positive achievements, which for us back then maybe were. I believe that this way of life is probably taught to us from a very young age creating an idea in our young subconscious minds that this is, and will come into fruition because that is what society says is right.

Regardless of your dreams as a bright, young, creative, powerful thinker this idea is well drilled into your being from every angle, be it your parents, school teachers, friends parents, media etc. We are pretty much taught how not to think in terms of personal or professional goals by the time we reach adult age, but how to think in terms of which job or degree/course will get me into a job so that we can get the money to get a smart house or good car and clothes every week. Therefore perpetual habit takes life. It is up to us to break these habits and stop challenging others and start challenging ourselves.

The realisation at this point that we’re not getting any younger and our kids are rapidly growing up, not just for us but for most people can turn into alarm bells that indicate a life of ticking over is just not what your here to do.

I’m learning each day to remind myself to do just one thing that I want to do instead of putting it off for later!

Amber and I have came up with a few small personal goals that we are working towards on a daily basis and it seriously helps our mental well being.

Being Present is the best gift to yourself – There you go, I thought I wrote a new quote but it already exists!!!

Also Follow us at @thebowesfamily on Instagram for more family stuff and Healthy Vegan Recipes.

Vegan pulled pork is one of those recipes I reach for if I feel a little bit naughty and I want a ‘cheat meal’ with out the oil and additives that you normally associate with a take out. It gives you a serious feeling of satisfaction afterwards.

I began making this a few years ago and at the time I used a shop bought BBQ sauce, but over the years I have tweaked it to suit our taste and now we use a ‘Pulled pork spice mix’ You can pick these up in the spice aisle of most supermarkets. They are a mixture of garlic, onion, smoked paprika and a few other herbs. You could absolutely make this at home yourself but for speed I just pick up the ready mixed powder which doesn’t contain Pork, despite the name.

Vegan pulled pork Recipie

Makes 4 well filled buns.

Ingredients

1 large sweet potato

1 tbsp of Tamari (soy sauce or coconut amino)

2 tbsp of pulled pork spice mix

1/2 cup of tomato ketchup

1 clove of garlic crushed

1/3 cup water

Step 1 – Begin by peeling and grating your sweet potato, this is possibly the worst job ever so if you have a friend let them do this bit !

Step 2 – Into a small pan add your Tamari, tomato Ketchup, spice mix, garlic and 1/3 cup of water. Warm the sauce through for 2 -3 minutes on a low simmer. The sauce will thicken up and spices will cook together. (Don’t let it boil or it will burn on !)

Step 3 – while your sauce is warming through put your grated sweet potato into a non stick frying pan. Fry you sweet potato adding a tbsp of water if it starts to stick. This will need cooking on a low to medium heat for 20 to 30 minutes. I like the potato to still have a bite to it, but by 30 minutes it will be very soft.

Step – 4 Add your sauce into your sweet potato. With the heat up, mix in your sauce just warming it through and it’s ready to serve.

We really hope you enjoy making this recipe, if you liked this one you can find us on Instagram for more food inspiration and family fun @thebowesfamily

A beautiful day with my perfect big girl began with a morning of baking cookies together and devouring them in the garden dipped in raspberry yogurt.

These almond based cookies are sweetened with maple syrup and spotted with Cacao nibs. Although cacao is as equally calorie dense as dark chocolate, it contains no added sugar. which makes this recipe completely free from refined sugar.

Almond Cookie Recipe

Ingredients Gas mark 5

1 1/2 cups of ground almonds

1/2 cup of ground flax seed

1/3 cup of Maple syrup

1/3 cup cacao nibs

Place all the ingredients in a bowl and mix until the maple syrup is combined. You can use your hand to free form the cookies, squeezing them into a ball or using a cookie cutter to spoon the mixture in the top and press it down with the back of a spoon. Then you can remove the cookie cutter and you have a perfectly formed biscuit shape.

Put them all on a baking sheet and cook them for between 15 to 20 minutes or until they are golden brown around the edges.

This recipe makes around 16 biscuits depending on the size, They are soft in the center and crunchy around the edges. Truly simple and delicious !

We really hope you enjoy making these and if you would like to follow our family and see more of what we eat you can find us on Instagram @thebowesfamily

Inspired by the beautiful weather we had yesterday I took us all out into the sunshine to enjoy a tasty bowl of mushroom steaks with rice, broccoli and a beautiful homemade Chimichurri sauce.

Having an auto immune disease I’ve got a few food allergies including gluten and nightshade veggies, so finding a sauce is sometimes difficult. I always fall back to eating houmous with everything, but this Chimichurri sauce is super simple to make and packed with flavor and Vitamins.

It has a base of Parsley which in itself is a super food. It’s high in nutrients with 3 times the amount of vitamin C than an orange, and twice as much iron as spinach !! It also has Vitamins K and A as well as Folate. It certainly packs a punch.

Not to mention the 5 raw cloves of garlic, which is a powerful natural antibiotic rich in vitamins B6, C, calcium, phosphorus, and selenium.

If you are a garlic lover this sauce is definitely the one for you but it is well complimented by the lemon and parsley to deliver a more mellow garlic taste with a citrus undertone.

Pretty amazing wealth of healing in a simple sauce. It is good to store in the fridge for 2 days and can be frozen so when every your feeling like you need a boost, its good to go and throw on top of any veggies !

After the initial idea of ‘yeah lets sell everything and travel’, we came up with a list of problems and the main one being…

“What about school !”

So we began to look for other families doing a similar thing and how they had solved this education challenge. We found that the majority of these families were living very relaxed lives and homeschooling/unschooling played a big part. After some research we realised that there is a massive amount of families homeschooling not just in the UK, but in fact all over the world.

These children are learning at their own pace, learning life skills through experiences. After all, these tiny humans teach themselves to walk and talk without a school or a class room. Others are taught more traditionally, with more scheduled activities/learning time. These activities are often self led and they spend so much more time outdoors.

We found that these home educated children aren’t brought up to be unsociable (quite the opposite) and they are more in touch with the world around them. They socialise well because each day they are in contact with different children and adults, not in a class room with the same 30 faces everyday.

I don’t want our children to grow up doing something that makes them unhappy. Be it studying a certain subject or pursuing a certain career only because they were told they were good at it, or told to leave their unrealistic dreams behind. I don’t want my babies being made into square pegs that fit nicely into modern society. I would rather they excel in something they love/have chosen for themselves. They can put time and energy into their passions where they can grow up believing that anything is possible.

Our kids’ happiness is the most important thing in the world and every parent keeps their child’s best interests at heart.

Telling our family and friends about our plans to leave and travel has been mainly positive, I mean who wouldn’t want to spend a few months getting to know themselves and experiencing other cultures, not to mention the wonderful weather. However we were slightly hesitant to reveal our homeschooling plans, but knowing that people support us in our decision to home school makes us feel really positive and excited to move forward.

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